How to pronounce commitment in American English

IPA /kəˈmɪtmənt/ Syllables 3 · kuh·miht·muhnt Stress 2nd syllable

kuh·MIHT·muhnt

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Americans pronounce commitment as kuh-MIHT-muhnt (/kəˈmɪtmənt/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "I appreciate your dedication and commitment to the team" or "The alliance strengthened its commitment to collective defense" — more examples below.

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

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Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "commitment", the "t" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

In "commitment", the short unstressed vowel before "n" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "n" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "commitment".

3 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

k/k/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.

uh/ʌ/

Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.

m/m/

Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.

ih/ɪ/

Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.

t/t/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.

m/m/

Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.

uh/ʌ/

Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.

n/n/

Syllabic

The schwa before N disappears — N becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to N.

t/t/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.

In real conversation

Hear "commitment" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"I am afraid I need to postpone our dinner due to a prior commitment."

ahy uhm uh·FRAYD ahy NEED tuh poh·SPOHN owr DIH·ner DOO tuh uh PRAHY·er kuh·MIHT·muhnt

"I appreciate your dedication and commitment to the team."

ahy uh·PREE·shee·ayt yer deh·duh·KAY·shuhn and kuh·MIHT·muhnt tuh dhuh TEEM

"The alliance strengthened its commitment to collective defense."

dhee uh·LAHY·uhns STREHNG·thuhnd ihts kuh·MIHT·muhnt tuh kuh·LEHK·tuhv duh·FEHNS

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Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "commitment", the "t" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.

commitment→kuh·MIHT·muhnt

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

commitment→kuh·MIHT·muhnt

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch MIHT — keep everything else short and quick.

KUH·miht·MUHNT→kuh·MIHT·muhnt

Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.

Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.

KUH·MIHT·muhnt→kuh·MIHT·muhnt

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "commitment" stressed in American English?

Stress falls on the second syllable — say "MIHT" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "kuh-MIHT-muhnt" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Why does the first syllable in "commitment" reduce to "uh"?

Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "kuh-MIHT-muhnt" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.

Is the American pronunciation of "commitment" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "kuh-MIHT-muhnt" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

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Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

Every sound in "commitment".

Hear "commitment" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.

Questions people ask about this.

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